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Thursday, July 30, 2009

Tablecloth Quilt

A couple years ago I snagged a 1/4 yard cut of each fabric from Heather Ross's Lightning Bugs and Other Mysteries line. I didn't know what exactly I would be doing with them, but I knew I loved them. Then about a year ago I scored a vintage tablecloth at a thrift store for $3 that I knew was a perfect color match. These fabrics were some that stayed in the "uncuttable" pile for quite some time, because I admired them and wasn't sure where to go next.

Well, a couple months ago I got brave enough and started whacking. The fabrics needed to stay in fairly large pieces so they would be showcased, so I did a very simple pattern. I think it's called Hidden Nine-Patch. I saw it on someone's blog, but I can't remember whose. (Sorry! Let me know if it was yours!)

Anyway, I put the whole top together a few months ago, quilted it last month, and then got stuck because I wanted a bright red-orange binding. (Can I just say that it is an IMPOSSIBLE color to find??) I gave up on Tuesday and used the green fabrics (those are not Heather Ross's, by the way -- I added them in) for the binding. I just finished hand-finishing the binding last night!

Here's the back view. It was a round tablecloth, so I cut off four sides to make it square and used the excess in the front. Then, since it was a rectangular quilt and I had a square for the back, I added a pieced strip in the back. I must say, I loooove the colors, and the tablecloth really is a perfect match!!

I started with 81 6" cut squares, turned into nine 9-patches. Once they are cut into quarters you will have 36 blocks, but you won't use one of them (7 rows of 5 blocks each). I used a total of 13 fabrics. The finished dimensions are approximately 37" x 53". (I rarely shoot for standard sizes!) I hope this helps! I'd love to see your finished quilt!